


Fate and Destiny and All That Nonsense

by littleoptimistme



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Arguing, Attachment Issues, Family Feels, Gen, Groundhog Day, Kid Fic, Klaus has more powers, Klaus is underappreciated, Siblings, Time Travel, Young Academy, ben is afraid of his powers, ben is alive now, ben is fated to die, ben is not a ghost, ben is unproblematic, everyone loves ben, little bit of a fix it, luther is a jerk, mostly - Freeform, super powers, type of plot, vanya is a kid again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 21:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18156992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleoptimistme/pseuds/littleoptimistme
Summary: Ben hardly remembers a time when his life wasn't taking care of Klaus.Emotions are such intense things. Ben isn't sure if it is because he is a child again or if it is because he's alive, but he is not used to them either way. The apocalypse may be long off, but there are problems enough to deal with right now. On top of readjusting to life not solely revolving around Klaus and Vanya having no memory of the future, the mission that Ben is quite certain killed him last time has been moved up for reasons unknown, and it is up to the seven of them to make sure that this time, none of them die. However, time doesn't like being changed, and this is going to be more difficult than they thought.





	Fate and Destiny and All That Nonsense

Ben couldn’t breathe. His lungs screamed and he thrashed, panic clawing at his throat. He was dying again. He was surely dying again. He’d finally lost his connection to Klaus and now he’d go insane and it was going to be awful-

“BEN! _BEN_!”

A flash of bright light.

He looked up at a young, but very familiar face.

Klaus was practically on top of him, the blanket bunched in his fists. He breathed heavily, sleep-tossed curls stuck to his forehead. He must have just run in here, probably brought on by Ben’s screaming. “It’s fine. You’re- you’re fine. You’re, _holy crap-_ ” Klaus pulled the blanket further down and somewhere in Ben’s panic, he realized he wasn’t dying, he’d just been caught in his blankets.

“You’re alive,” Klaus whispered.

Ben pushed Klaus off him.

They were in Ben’s childhood bedroom. Course, it was different. It wasn’t the bedroom it ought to be, with a striped mattress, all of his notes and drawings in boxes, his books stored in the closet and the comic books he liked to read claimed by Vanya years prior. That room was covered in dust and only Klaus dared to go inside because he had little to no respect for the dead. Besides, Klaus saw him every day.

Instead, stripes of morning light illuminated a moderately messy bedroom of the average young boy. Or rather, as average as he was allowed to be. His uniform was on the floor, several pairs of shoes piled in a corner, and his doodles tacked to the wall above his bed.

If his eyes got any wider, they’d roll out. “Are you doing this?”

“No.”

“You’re sure.”

“No, I’m not freaking sure!”  
Ben flipped the blanket off and swiveled to the floor. His bare feet touched the wood. He could… feel it? He looked down at himself. Blue striped pajamas. His hands were small.

He clenched and unclenched them.

“Woah.”

Being dead was fine and all but it was _nothing_ compared to having a physical body. He grinned and flew to his feet, only to stumble and fall into his desk, knocking over a lamp. It shattered. Klaus laughed. He doubled over, laughing.

Ben was similarly inclined. He straightened, more careful now, and grinned at the brother he’d been tethered to for more than a decade. There was a mirror on the back of his door, and he closed that door slightly.

There he was. Age thirteen. (Although, honestly he looked more like ten. Kind of a late bloomer). Klaus padded up behind him (and yeah, he was definitely at least a head taller than Ben). He brandished a wild grin, one Ben hadn’t seen in so many years. “You’re not dead yet.”

Yet. Ben brushed that away.

Klaus’s eyes widened. “We’ve gotta- oh they are gonna freak-” Klaus tried to jump toward the door, but he knocked into Ben’s shoulder. They both stared at each other, equally weirded out. They shouldn’t be, because they _knew-_ It was just… it had been a long time since he’d been corporal. Ben shook away the feeling, and they clamored out of Ben’s bedroom.

They didn’t split up, out of habit really, even though that would have been more practical. Ben followed just a few steps behind Klaus as they burst into the first bedroom they came to. At the last second, Ben hesitated in the hallway, a sudden lurch of fear in his stomach.

It had been so long and he hadn’t exactly left on a good note...

The bedroom happened to belong to “DIEGO!”  
Klaus burst through the door, Diego shrieked, a knife embedded on the other side of the hall. “KLAUS! You sc- don’t _do that!_ ”

“You’re not gonna believe- HEY GET IN HERE! You’re not gonna believe this.”

That was probably aimed at Ben.

He shuffled forward, shook himself, and entered the doorway. Chill out. He was an adult.

A little Diego (of course, still taller than Ben) stood frozen in front of his mirror. He must have been looking at his newly young self.

His face went blank.

Ben chewed his lip. “Um-”

Before he could finish, Diego suddenly surged forward and hugged him tightly. Ben had never been very close to Diego, but apparently, it hadn’t mattered in the end. He hugged him back and something broke a bit inside. He had missed this _so bad._

Just as abruptly, Diego pulled back. He cleared his throat and turned away from him quickly to fiddle with a knife. “I didn’t even think-”

“I know!” Klaus was ecstatic. Thirteen years old he was even more energetic and chaotic than grown Klaus. He practically buzzed.

“What’s going on?”

Ben turned toward the hallway. Alison and Luther, surely drawn by the racket they made, stopped dead (heh).

Ben gave them a little wave, and then they were all over him. Allison’s hands on his face, Luther hugging him (too tightly). They were all talking at once. Klaus poked his head out of the doorway with that same sickeningly sweet grin. The only thing that would make things worse would be if Ben gave into the tightness in his throat and started crying right there in front of them. It was a real close thing.

Allison had no such reservations. She cried on his shoulder. “We missed you so much-”

“I know-” he managed.

That caught her attention. She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “W-what?”

Ah, yes. He should not have said that. It was too late to take back his words now, though. “I was there the whole time. With Klaus.”

All eyes finally left Ben and landed squarely on Klaus, who had the grace to look at least slightly awkward. He shot Ben a small glare, which Ben ignored.

Luther frowned at Klaus. “I thought… How long were you summoning him?”

Klaus shifted his weight, eyes darting. “Look, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell you guys-”

“Klaus,” Ben said. “I’ll tell them if you don’t.”

He gave in. “I never summoned him, per se. Ben just sort of… hung around. Constantly. It was a real pain in my neck actually-”

“Wait.” Allison raised a hand. “Ben’s been with you _since he died?_ ”

If Ben remembered correctly, he’d woken Klaus up the next morning in a panic.

 _That_ Klaus lived in a dumpster and slept in a gutter (he’d run away a few months ago). Ben didn’t remember how he found him. He was just _there_ suddenly and he knew he was dead. He remembered it clearly. Everything else felt dull, like looking through thick glass. Klaus was in high definition.

Klaus had swatted at the air, his hand passing through Ben’s arm. He didn’t notice. He smacked a newspaper out of his face and squinted at him. “Aw jeez. How did you find me? No, don’t say it. Dear old dad has tracking devices in us, doesn’t he? I’m not even surprised.” He rolled over, grunting.

Ben swallowed. “Klaus,” he said softly.

No response.

“Klaus, look at me.”

Klaus sighed and gave him a grumpy glare. “What?”

So Ben did the only thing he could think to do. He tried to grab Klaus’s hand. And all the color drained from his brother’s face.

Luther shook his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t _tell us_! We could have talked to him!”

“I know! I know. But he was dead! And I was living on the street and I kept thinking about going back, but then it was just… It got too long and- and-”

Allison scoffed. “I can’t believe you would be so selfish! You told us you hadn’t seen ghosts in years!”

“I hadn’t! I was high literally all the time! No ghosts!”

“Except me.”

Klaus cocked his head. “Except him.”

They processed this. Diego cursed quietly under his breath. “I mean, it's really screwed up, man.”

But they were all screwed up. And if he was honest, it wasn’t like Ben asked Klaus to go home. Not for a long time. The very thought of this place made his skin crawl for years.

“It’s in the past, okay?” he tried, quieter than he intended. “We all did some messed up stuff.”

Luther and Allison both looked at him, then at each other. They relaxed slightly. All was not forgiven, but he’d smoothed things over some.

“You mean, the future, of course.”

They all turned at the new voice.

Five was already dressed smartly in his school uniform, hair brushed and gelled smartly. He met Ben’s eyes and a professional smile lifted his lips. “Ben. It’s good to have you back.”

Ben smiled too. That was about as much affection as you were going to get from Five. Ben didn’t mind. “Thank you. Who knew ghosts could travel through time?”

“Well, I’d theorized, and with Klaus’s-” Five cut himself off. “That’s beside the point. More importantly, we have a problem.” Without another word, he swiveled and started down the hallway. With a few concerned looks, they filed after him, down a familiar hallway that felt much larger than it had been just hours before. Ben traced his fingers along the wood grain and bumped over one of the numerous nicks Diego left around the house.

Klaus ducked behind Ben immediately. “So... where’s the old goat gotten to?”

Ben glanced at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Reginald! It’s a quarter past six. He should be up and shouting ‘TIME TO ASSEMBLE, CHILDREN’.” Klaus’s imitation of Reginald was scarily good.

He had a point. Where _was_ Reginald?

They piled out of the hallway, down some stairs and into the living room. It was silent and grey and clean in the early morning light. Sprawled across the couch, like a splotch of spilled milk, someone lay in a white nightgown. Her violin dangled from her fingers and handwritten music sheets lay crumpled around her. No one had bothered to take her to bed.

“Vanya-” Allison started forward.

Five stopped her with a hand. “Wait.”

“But-”  
The noise was too much. Vanya shifted, and the violin dropped with a discordant _twang_. She groaned, sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Ben stiffened, as did his siblings. They waited.

With a yawn, Vanya looked up at them, eyes wide and unfocused. She was so young. Of course, she was, but there was something in her face that made it more striking.

Her brow creased. “Uh… morning?” Her eyes darted across them all. Her voice had the husky quality of her sleep, the first word spoken.

No one said anything. Ben relaxed, slightly. She didn’t explode, so that was a start.

Vanya’s shoulders hunched. She fumbled for her music. “W-what’s going on?”

To think. _This_ was the apocalypse.

Five crossed his arms. “I talked to her earlier. Nothing.”

More silence.

Allison turned and gave Five a very pointed look.

“ _Yes_ ,” he said, in answer to whatever she’d asked. Pursing her lips, Allison grabbed her nearest siblings, which happened to be Ben and Luther and drug them out of the room. Everyone followed. Once in the hallway, she gestured at Five. “Well? What happened?”

Five shrugged. He chewed his lip. “I’m not sure. It is possible she was already dead before we-”

“ _What_?”

“It was always a risk! Alternatively, there is a possibility her memories didn’t make it back with the rest of us. In fact, that is the most probable explanation.”

Diego cursed. “What are we going to do then? How do we get them back?”

“I’m not sure we should.”

That was Luther. Ben looked up at him.

“You can’t be serious.” Diego protested. “She’s- she’s, that’s a whole life!”

Ben didn’t know what he thought. He remained silent and watched, as he was accustomed to.

Five had already accepted that Vanya, the one they knew, was gone. Allison seemed upset, but not overly so. She would side with Luther because she always sided with Luther. Maybe it would be easier. Vanya hadn’t exactly had a happy life. Maybe they could give her a better one this time. Was that wrong? And Klaus…

Ben frowned. He turned around. Where was Klaus? A sick sort of lurch in Ben’s stomach, a rush of fear, flew through him like a cold wind. Klaus was _always_ there. Ben was supposed to be watching him! Where did he go? He needed to find- he needed to find-

“Are you alright?”

Ben blinked.

He swallowed and backed away from the group. “I’ve gotta-” He didn’t have time to explain. Without another word, Ben zipped down the hall back to the sitting room, skidding on the floors. Klaus would still be there. He had to be. Something could happen to him if he was by himself! He might- he could-

Ben burst into the sitting room, and there was Klaus, sitting on the couch with Vanya. Their words were soft. Ben stopped himself on a railing.

He forced a deep breath.

Klaus was perfectly fine.

Of course he was. What did he expect? That he would fall over dead the second Ben wasn’t looking at him? _Given his record…_ No. No, he was overreacting.

“Something up?”

Ben twisted toward Klaus’s voice, lips pursed, and shook his head. “Oh. No. I just was…” His mind blanked. “Testing the… floor...s.”

Even Vanya wasn’t fooled. They both stared at him, confused, and Klaus raised an eyebrow. “Oh... They… working well?”

Ben shifted his weight. “Yep. Still, uh, slippery.” God, why was he so bad at this? He’d never been a great liar. No, scratch that, he was a _terrible_ liar. Shaking his head, Ben chose the easiest way out. He flopped into an armchair across the couch and stared at the ceiling.

Vanya tucked her violin back in its case. She had very deep eyes for a child, thoughtful and calculating in a way Ben had not taken the time to notice before now. “Did you guys need something?”

“Need? Us?” Klaus shook his head. “No! We just, well, _I_ just haven't talked to you in a while, you know? So busy with… training and all.”

What exactly was Klaus trying to do here? Ben caught his eye but Klaus brushed him off with a barely perceptible shoulder shrug. If that had not been very typical communication when ‘other people’ were around, Ben wouldn’t have seen it. But he knew what that particular look meant. It was a _chillout, I’ve got this_ look.

 _Be careful with her!_ Ben shot back with his eyes.

 _I am!_ Klaus returned.

This conversation happened while Klaus kept up a long string of words that were making less sense by the second. “I think we should play more games, you know? Remember when we used to play hide and seek?”

Vanya smiled tentatively. “That was fun.”

Klaus smiled back. “Yeah? Yeah, it was! We should play!”

Vanya glanced around for a second. “What, now? Mr. Hargreaves will be back any second-”

“Oh? Where is he again?”

Again, Vanya hesitated. Her hands got all tied up in her nightgown. “He’s at his monthly brunch with the UN? He told us last night. You’re supposed to be training while he’s gone... I-I don’t know what prank you’re trying to play, Four. It’s not funny.”

Swiftly, she stood, violin case in hand.

A prank? Did they really use to play so many pranks on her she would think a conversation was one? Ben racked his brain, but he couldn’t remember. His memories from being alive were shady at best anyhow. He’d only stayed himself for as long as he had because he’d latched onto Klaus. Ben’s memories were there in a general way, but the specifics had long since faded into the vague grey that constantly threatened to overwhelm him.

Or rather, _used_ to threaten him.

And wasn’t that incredible...

He had spent so long watching, but now… _Now,_ Ben stood and gently grabbed Vanya by the wrist as she tried to leave. She didn’t pull away. That was a good sign, he guessed. His voice was quieter than he meant it to be when he spoke, filled with little what-ifs. “Am I… mean to you?”

Something in Vanya’s face softened. She was still confused, he could see that, but maybe she could see something in him as well. “Aw, Benny. No. You’re not mean.” She hugged him easily and ruffled his hair. With that, she left the sitting room, leaving Ben and Klaus equally disgruntled.

“ _Aw Benny_ ,” Klaus mocked, “How come you’re ‘Benny’ and I get _Four_?”

“You’re an annoying twit.”

Ben would be lying if he said he wasn’t immensely relieved that Vanya seemed to hold no ill will against Past Ben.

The others piled back into the sitting room, and Allison opened her mouth, but at that moment, an alarm began to blare and red lights flashed.

The sound had already Pavloged dread into Ben. A mission.

There was movement upstairs, and a woman walked down the stairs with a smile on her face. She was freshly charged.

“Come along, children! Mr. Hargreaves has instructed everyone to suit up and line up at the front door. He will be along shortly!”

They stared at her.

“Mom-” Diego started.

“Chip chop!” She clapped her hands and ushered them back to their bedrooms. “Quick as you can!”

They had no choice but to follow her.

Ben was stunned. He wasn’t the only one. They shuffled to their bedrooms with wide eyes. It had not occurred to anyone yet that being children again meant _missions_. Again.

Were they going to just go with it?

Ben found himself looking to Allison, who looked at Luther, who looked at Five, who rolled his eyes. “Don’t deviate. Not until I’ve done the math.”

Okay. That was that, then. For now, they were going on a mission. A mission that would probably entail evil people and blood and murder and a whole load of death.

There it was again, that rush of fear. Emotions were such intense things. Ben wasn’t sure if it was because he was a hormonal child or if it was because he was alive, but he was not used to them.

For the first time in a long time, flashes of _that day_ flitted through his brain. Those memories were, unfortunately, crystal clear. He remembered the agony, the ripping of flesh and the smell of his own burning body, the melting of the jumpsuit into his skin-

Ben’s fingers shook as he zipped up that very same jumpsuit. He wrapped his arms around his middle and screwed his eyes shut.

As Ben curled tighter and tighter in on himself, the alarm bell continued the scream, feet ran across the floor, Vanya tuned her violin, and Ben tried to remember he needed to breathe.

Maybe this being-alive thing wasn’t so great, not if it meant dying all over again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you liked what you've read!


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